Musical instrument



March 22, 1966 H. F. MEINEL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Feb. 26, 1964 PRlOR ART PRIOR ART INVENTOR. HERMANN EMEINEL United States Pate t c 3,241,417 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT- Hermann Friedrich Meinel, Erlbacher Strasse 85,

Markneukircheu, Vogtland, Germany Filed Feb. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 348,000 Claims. (Cl. 84275) The present invention relates to'musical instruments and in particular to stringed instruments of the violin class.

Over the years instruments of this type have been constructed primarily in one way, based on the classic Italian type of instrument, and although there have been from time to time proposals to vary the construction, these proposals are now only of historical significance and the basic Italian form remains prevalent. The attempts which have been made to alter well known classic construction of instruments of the violin class have, however, never dealt with parts of the instrument which are relatively difiicult to manufacture, such as the parts where the narrow waist of theinstrument, formed by the bouts thereof, join the substantially U-shaped front and rear portions of the instrument. 1

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide for instruments of the above type a construction which on the one hand will simplify the manufacture thereof so that the cost of the instrument will be substantially reduced and which on the other hand will enhance the quality of the sound which is produced by the instrument, so that an improvement in the performance of the instrument can be combined with a reduction .of the cost of manufacture thereof making it possible to produce, even by mass production methods, instruments which have the capability of providing a high quality sound.

Furthermore, the objects of the present invention include providing an instrument of the above type which is still of an esthetically acceptable appearance.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide an instrument which, while capable of accomplishing the above objects, nevertheless is not a fragile instrument but is, if anything, stronger, in a mechanical sense, than conventional instruments of the above type.

The construction of the invention primarily includes improvements in the body of the instrument. Thus, the instrument of the invention still includes apair of bouts and a front substantially U-shaped portion as well as a rear U-shaped portion which is larger than the front portion, but in accordance with the present invention at least one of these U-shaped portions terminates in ends which adjoin ends of the bouts and which make with the ends of the bouts angles-which are at least as great as a right angle, and preferably considerably larger. .The invention is described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which: I

FIG. 1 illustrates the outline of the body of an instrument of the classic, well-known type;

FIG. Zillustrates the configuration of the body of the instrument according to the present invention, and the location of FIG. 2 beside FIG. 1 affords an easy comparison between the prior art of FIG. 1 and the novel structure of FIG. 2; 7

FIG. 3 illustrates, on an enlarged scale, the construction of the front portion of the instrument of the invention at the place where it joins the bouts, FIG. 3 showing in dotted lines the known structure superimposed on the structure of the invention, again to afford a ready comparison;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary illustration on an enlarged scale of the rear part of the instrument, as constructed 3,241,417 Patented Mar. 22, 1 966 according to the present invention, and in particular at the region where it joins the bouts, and again the prior art is shown in dotted lines superimposed on the solid-line structure of the invention shown in FIG. 4, and the enlarged scales of FIGS. 3 and 4, enlarged with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, actually approach the proportions of the actual instrument so as to illustrate in a practical way the extent to which the classic structure is altered according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows the inner structure of the prior art instrument at the place where the bout joins a rear portion of the instrument; 7

FIG. 6 shows, just below FIG. 5, the corresponding frame structure of the invention;

FIG. 7a shows fragmentarily an improvementin the interior structure according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7b shows a variation in a manner in which the inner structure of the instrument may be improved.

Referring now to FIG. 1, which shows the outline of a body 1 of a stringed instrument of the violin class of the well known classic Italian type, it will be seen that this very well-known structure includes the bouts 2 which are situated between the front U-shaped portion 3 and the larger, rear U-shaped portion 4. As was indicated above, this basic type of structure has been used almost without any appreciable variation over the years. There have been from time to time proposals to change the structure, but these proposals have never been of any permanent significance. For example, it has been proposed to eliminate the bouts; it has been proposed to provide a front portion 3, for example, of trapezoidal configuration; it has been proposed to provide larger bulges in the upper and lower walls of the instrument, particularly angular bulges; and it has even been proposed to reverse the arrangement so that the front portion of the instrument is larger than the rear portion, but all of these proposals have never been widely accepted and the basic Italian configuration which is illustrated in FIG. 1 has prevailed over the years. It is noteworthy that in spite of all of the changes which have been proposed over the years, none of which have been permanent, there has never been any proposal to change the structure of the instrument in the region where the bouts join the front and rear portions, although it is precisely in this region that one encounters a part of the instrument which is extremely diflicult to construct. As may be seen from FIG. 1, the front portion 3 and the rear portion 4 of the instrument are convexely curved in the region of the front and rear ends of the instrument, while as they approach the bouts at the narrow waist of the instrument, the front and rear portions have their curvature reversed and a considerable portion of the peripheries of the front and rear sections 3 and 4 of the instrument are made concave as they approach the ends of the bouts 2.v In fact the tips of the bouts 2 and the tips of the portions 3 and 4 make with each other, where they join, such a sharp angle that it is conventional to provide at the corners 5 a relatively blunt end at the joint between these portions of the instrument. It is this reverse curvature in the instrument where the front and rear portions join the bouts that provides great difficulties in the construction of the instrument, and yet this feature has been retained over the years.

The structure of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 where the parts are designated with the same reference characters as the corresponding parts of FIG. 1, except that the reference characters are primed. Thus, it will be seen from FIG. 2 that the body 1' of the instrument of the invention has also the bouts 2' which provide the instrument with a narrow waist, but it will be seen that the 'front portion 3 and the larger, rear portion 4 have peripheries which are entirely convex all the way up to 3 the corners where the ends of the front and rear portions adjoin the ends of the bouts 2'.

Moreover, it is apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2 that with the present invention the classical Italian form of the violin is retained, except at the region where the bouts join the U-shaped front and rear portions of the instrument. Thus, it is apparent that the curvature of the front and rear portions is quite flat at the ends of the violin, exending almost perpendicularly across a longitudinal central plane which passes midway between the sides of the violin. Furthermore in both FIGS. 1 and 2 the conventional classical curvature is such that the maximum width of both the front and the rear portions occurs between the ends of the violin and the corners where the bouts are joined to the front and rear portions, so that with the present invention, while alltof the advantages of the classical Italian configuration are retained, nevertheless there is considerable improvement both structurally and acoustically at the corners where the bouts are connected with the front and rear portions of the violin. While it is possible in accordance with the present invention to provide such a construction either for the front portion 3' or for the rear portion 4, it is preferred to provide this construction for both the front and rear portion of the instrument, and in accordance with the present invention the construction is such that at the corners 5', where the front and rear portions adjoin the bouts, the ends of the bouts and the ends of the front and rear portions define between themselves angles which are at least as great as a right angle and preferably an obtuse angle which is considerably larger than a right angle, as indicated in FIG. 2.

In order to emphasize the distinctions provided by the structure of the invention over the classical form of the instrument, the classical form is shown on an enlarged scale, as compared to FIGS. 1 and 2, in dotted lines in FIGS. 3. and 4 superimposed on the structure of the invention which is shown in solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thus, referring to FIG. 3 and following the dotted lines from the front end 6 of the body of the instrument, it will be seen that while in the region of the front end the periphery of the instrument is convex, as the periphery of the front portion approaches the corners 5 it is necessary to draw the periphery inwardly at its opposite sides to such an extent as to reverse the curvature, shown particularly at 3 in FIG. 3, and of course this provides the end 5 which is joined to the end of the bout in the manner shown in FIG. 3. In the same way, as may be seen from FIG. 4, the rear portion 4 is convex in the region of the rear end 7 but as it approaches the corners 5 it is again necessary to draw the peripheral portions of the instrument in severely so as to provide the reverse concave curvature 4 which then curves outwardly to adjoin the end 5 at the bout at the corner 5 which is illustrated in FIG. 4. In contrast, and the extent of the contrast is clearly apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, the convex periphery of the front and rear portions is retained in accordance with the invention so that with the invention instead of the reversely curved portion 3 shown in FIG. 3 there is a continuing of the convex curvature as shown at 3' and the difference is even more sharply apparent in FIG. 4 where the continued convex curvature of the periphery of the rear'portion 4 is shown at 4' in accordance with the invention and just opposed to the conventional configuration 4 It is furthermore to be noted from FIGS. 3 and 4 that with the structure of the invention there are no corner portions 5 which jut out in the manner shown in the dotted lines in FIGS. 3 and 4. The corners 5' of the instrument of the invention do not project outwardly and in fact in the illustrated example the obtuse angle included between the ends of the bouts and the ends of the front and rear portions are so large as to provide almost :no interruption in the curvature of the periphery, with the periphery of the front and rear portions-mergingalmost smoothly into the curvature of the bouts.

While in the illustrated example a relatively large obtuse angle is illustrated at the junctions between the bouts and the front and rear portions of the body of the in strument, in accordance with the invention it is essential only that this angle be at least as great as a right angle, and while it is preferably larger than a right angle it neednot necessarily be as great as the particular angle illustrated in the drawings.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate further the edge portions 8 of the conventional upper and lower walls of the body of the instrument, these edge portions 8 projecting outwardly beyond the side walls of the instrument, and in accordance with a further feature of the invention these pro jecting edge portions of the upper and lower walls of the instrument are eliminated and instead the side and upper and lower walls adjoin each other without any projection of the upper and lower walls beyond the side Walls, and this feature also simplifies this structure without in any way detracting from the quality of the sound produced thereby.

The inner structure of the instrument in the region where the ends of the bouts adjoin the front or rear portion is illustrated for the prior art in FIG. 5 and for the present invention in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 5 it will be seen that the instrument conventionally includes a frame 10 which is reinforced by elongated ribs 11 which in addition increase the surface area for receiving glue for fastening the walls of the instrument to the frame thereof, and there is particularly apparent from FIG. 5 the block 9 which must be included in each corner 5 so as to properly join the curved frame portions to each other at each corner 5. In addition to the cost which is required to include such blocks 9 and to curve the frame in the manner shown in FIG. 5, these blocks 9 diminish the vibrations of the instrument so as to diminish the extent to which a high quality sound can be produced thereby. In contrast, it will be seen that with the structure of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the frame 10' which can also be reinforced with tabs 11' requires but a simple insert 9' which forms substantially a continuation of the rib 11 and which does not have any effect of reducing the extent to which the walls of the instrument can vibrate so that there is no detraction of the quality of the sound with the structure of the invention. Moreover, it will be seen from FIG. 6 particularly that the convex curvature of the front or rear portion of the instrument merges almost smoothly into the curvature of the bout in the par- I, ticular example illustrated to provide a structure which on the one hand is simple and inexpensive and which on the other hand is very robust.

The above-referred-to ribs 11 or 11' must be preformed to a particular configuration in order to be properly joined to the frame 10 or 10', and this preforming of the reinforcing ribs is again a drawback of conventional constructions. In order to avoid this the structures of FIGS. 7a and 7b are provided in accordance with the invention. are provided a series of blocks 11a which are distributed along the frame in the manner shown in FIG. 7a with the particular spacing variable as indicated in FIG. 7a. In fact, the size of the blocks 11a may also vary as indicated in FIG. 7a, and with this construction while the frame is still reinforced and the area for gluing the walls to the frame is increased by the reinforcing blocks, never theless the cost of providing a preformed reinforcingrib structure is eliminated and at the same time the entire in strument is rendered far more flexible and springy at its periphery so that the'brittleness of the conventinoal instruments along their peripheral edges is avoided and at the same time the cost of the construction is reduced.

FIG. 7b shows another embodiment of a structure for accomplishing similar results, and in this embodiment a continuous rib is again used, but in this case the rib is formed with cutouts distributed along the inner edge thereof so that the ribcan be curved very easily as indicated Thus, in FIG. 70 instead of a continuous rib there at 11b and again the results of FIG. 7a are approached by the notched rib structure of FIG. 7b. Thus, in both of the embodiments there is a distinction over the conventional reinforcing ribs in that with the reinforcing r1b structure of the invention there are interruptions in the rib structure and these interruptions are distributed along the ribs with the interruptions of FIG. 7a being formed by the spacing between the blocks while in the form of FIG. 7b they are formed by cutouts in the form of notches which are formed at the inner surface of the rib which is directed away from the frame.

As has been indicated above, the structure of the 1nvention while clearly simplifying the manufacture of the instrument and reducing the cost of manufacturing thereof, as is apparent from the above description, nevertheless cloes not in any way detract from the quality of the sound of the instrument. Thus, the sound which is produced by the instrument of the invention is pleasantly deeper than from a conventional instrument body, and the natural frequency is Lowered without using walls which are too thin, and a robust, full, melodious tone is obtained. Moreover, the larger area of the soundwave reflecting surfaces and the lesser diminishing. of the vibrations lead to a larger volume of sound. The elimination of elements such as the blocks 9, one of which is shown in FIG. 5, contributes greatly to the lessening of retardation of vibrations.

What is claimed is:

1. In a stringed instrument of the violin class, in combination, a pair or bouts, a substantially U-shaped front portion and a substantially U-shaped, larger rear portion between which said bouts are located and to which said bouts are connected, at least one of said U-slraped portions terminating in ends which adjoin, respectively, ends of said bouts and which make with said ends of said bouts, respectively, angles at least as great as a right angle, said bouts being elements distinct from said U-s-haped portions and said one U-shaped portion, except for said ends thereof, conforming to the configuration of a classical Italian instrument.

2. In a stringed instrument of the violin class, in combination, a pair of bouts, a substantially U-shaped front portion and a substantially U-shaped, larger rear portion between which said bouts are located and to which said bouts are connected, at least one of said U-shaped portions terminating in ends which respectively adjoin ends of said bouts and which respectively make with said ends of said bouts angles greater than a right angle, said bouts being elements distinct from said Ushaped portions and said one U-shaped portion, except for said ends thereof, conforming to the configuration of a classical Italian instrument.

3. In a stringed instrument of the violin class, in combination, a pair of bouts, a substantially U-shaped front portion and a substantially U-shaped, larger rear portion between which said bouts are located and to which said bouts are connected, said substantially U-shaped front and rear portions terminating in ends which respectively adjoin ends of said bouts and which respectively make with said ends of said bouts angles which are at least as great as a right angle, said bouts being elements distinct from said U-sliaped portions and both of said U-shaped portions, except for said ends thereof, conforming to the configuration of a classical Italian violin.

4. In a stringed instrument as recited in claim 3, said angles being obtuse angles.

5'. A body of a stringed instrument of the violin class, comprising an inner frame and outer walls carried by said frame, said inner frame and outer walls forming a pair of bouts, a substantially U-shaped front portion and a substantially U-shaped rear portion which is larger than said front portion, said U-shaped portions being joined at their ends to said bouts and said bouts being situated between said U-shaped portions, and at least one of said U-shaped portions having between its ends and the adjoining ends of said bouts angles which are at least as great as a right angle, and said walls of said body terminating in free edges which are located at said frame so that there are no wall edges which project outwardly beyond said frame, said bouts being elements distinct from said U-shaped portions and both of said U-shaped portions, except for said ends thereof, conforming to the configuration of a classical Italian violin.

6. A body of a stringed instrument of the violin class, comprising a frame and walls carried by. said frame and defining with the latter the body of the instrument, said body including a pair of bouts, a front substantially U-shaped portion, and a rear, larger substantially U- shaped portion, said bouts being located between said U-shaped portions and being connected thereto with the ends of at least one of said Ushaped portions adjoining ends of said bouts and making with said latter ends angles which are at least as great as a right angle, and said frame carrying a reinforcing rib which extends along said frame in the interior space defined within said walls and said reinforcing rib being formed with a plurality of interruptions which are distributed along said rib.

7. A body as recited in claim 6 and wherein said rib is formed by a plurality of blocks joined to and distributed along said frame and spaced from each other to define said interruptions.

8. In a body as recited in claim 6 and wherein said rib has a free edge formed with a plurality of cutouts distributed along said rib and defining said interruptions.

9. In an instrument as recited in claim 3, each of said U-shaped portions being convexly curved along its entire periphery and having a maximum width at a location spaced from and situated between said ends which adjoin said bouts and an outer end distant from said bouts, so as to conform to the configuration of a classical ltalian violin.

10. In an instrument as recited in claim 9, each of said U shatped portions at said outer end thereof extending substantially perpendicularly through a longitudinal central plane situated midway between said bouts so as to have at said outer end a relatively fiat curvature further conforming to the configuration of a classical Italian violin.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,367,580 2/1921 Ashley 84-275 1,719,680 7/ 1929 Warner.

1,777,618 10/1930 Kaylor 84-275 1,876,558 9/1932 Bonnewitz 84-275 2,414,238 1/ 1947 Osburn 84-275 2,485,158 10/1949 Lower 84-275 2,688,270 9/1954 Stein-bauer 84-275 3,084,586 4/1963 Westlake 84-275 LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A STRINGED INSTRUMENT OF THE VIOLIN CLASS, IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OR BOUTS, A SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED FRONT PORTION AND A SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED, LARGER REAR PORTION BETWEEN WHICH SAID BOUTS ARE LOCATED AND TO WHICH SAID BOUTS ARE CONNECTED, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID U-SHAPED PORTIONS TERMINATING IN ENDS WHICH ADJOIN, RESPECTIVELY, ENDS OF SAID BOUTS AND WHICH MAKE WITH SAID ENDS OF SAID BOUTS, RESPECTIVELY, ANGLES AT LEAST AS GREAT AS A RIGHT ANGLE, SAID BOUTS BEING ELEMENTS DISTINCT FROM SAID U-SHAPED PORTIONS AND SAID ONE U-SHAPED PORTION, EXCEPT FOR SAID ENDS THEREOF, CONFORMING TO THE CONFIGURATION OF A CLASSICAL ITALIAN INSTRUMENT. 